Monaco head coach Leonardo Jardim hinted that striker Radamel Falcao is not ready to play a full 90 minutes ahead of the Nice derby.
Falcao, 30, has only scored five goals in total for both Manchester United and Chelsea in the past two seasons, before returning to Monaco for his second stint with the club.
The Colombian has scored three goals in five games for Monaco this season, but Saturday's goal in the 3-0 win over Rennes was his first Ligue 1 goal since August 2014.
Despite his goal, Jardim is taking a cautious approach to protect his star forward, but did say that Falcao will likely start the game on Wednesday against second-place Nice.
"It's normal that he is not at 100 percent because he did not play for a month," Jardim told reporters.
"He needs to play more and more to reach his level. I don't know if he'll be able to play 90 minutes. We'll see what happens, and we'll have to substitute him if needed."
Monaco and Nice are the only unbeaten teams in Ligue 1 after five games, and Wednesday's derby provides a chance for Monaco to claim their fifth win of the season.
"I think that playing a derby is very good, it's a very important game for our fans and for us," he added.
"I think this year it'll be a bigger game because it's first against second and I think it's been many years since we've had this derby with the two teams at the top of the league.
"Because of all this, we have all the reasons to play a good game."